1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to fishing knives.
2. Statement of the Prior Art
Fishing knives are, of course, essential tools in preparing fish for consumption. Cross cuts, fin and backbone removal, rib cuts, head and tail removal and skinning are exemplary of the operations typically carried out with fishing knives. Heretofore, these operations have been carried out with fishing knives of the type wherein the shank of the blade is in line with the longitudinal axis of the handle. While such knives are suitable for some cutting operations, they are not particularly suited for others. For example, when skinning a fish, the fish is typically placed on a flat surface, such as a tabletop, and the blade is run along the tabletop between the skin and the body. Ideally, the side of the blade should be flush against the tabletop as this facilitates uniform removal of the skin. Thus, with prior art fishing knives, the blade is placed on its side against the tabletop and downward pressure is applied on the handle so as to flex the blade into a substantially flat position. Not only does this create wrist strain, but the difficulty of flexing the blade into a truly flat position often results in the blade cutting through the skin, which creates extra work. Similarly, when separating the fillet from the carcass, it is desirable to place the blade flush against the rib cage. A knife constructed in the usual fashion, i.e. with the blade in line with the longitudinal axis of the handle, would have to be angled when making this cut, thus creating the possibility of cutting through the ribs. This is particularly true in the case of larger fish. Another difficulty created by the prior art construction is that the handle often obscures the user's line of vision with the blade, thereby making accurate work more difficult.
In nonanalogous arts it has been known to construct knives, files, deburring means, etc. with the shank of the implement offset from the longitudinal axis of the handle. Such implements are exemplified by U.S. Pat. Nos. 940,308, 1,219,116, 2,577,406, 2,672,685, 2,737,704 and 2,759,263. These implements, however, even if carried over into the fishing knife art, would be ineffective for carrying out the operations intended to be simplified by the fishing knife of the present invention.
As is pointed out hereinafter, in the preferred embodiment of the invention, not only is the shank of the blade in line with one side surface of the handle, but the handle is also angled upward with respect to the blade. One technique for angling the handles of various implements, including knives, has been disclosed by Bennett in U.S. Pat. No. 4,038,719.